If you've been with us the past few weeks or are listening to the sermon online, you might be a little depressed over the spiritual condition of this world and the negative signs of our time, because so many of the signs that we're living in the last days are both negative and discouraging. The physical worldwide signs of world wars, ethnic and territorial conflicts, famine, a widespread diseases and earthquakes in various places. Now, these are the kinds of stories that you hear on the evening news, not the subject of a sermon in church. And then coupled with the general worldwide signs that we're living in the last days is the moral decay and corruption that we see in our world today. We're definitely living in days like the days of Noah and Lot. Days in which pockets of mankind are displaying incredible evil hearts. A time in which men are in love with themselves, with their money and possessions, in love with pleasure, rather than in love with God. Sexual perversions and promiscuity is all around us. Homosexuality is now mainstream and promoted. And we live in this sex-saturated society. And then on top of that is the apathy people have towards impending judgment. They know that judgment is coming. They feel it. And yet they're so busy pursuing their self-fulfillment fortunes and entertainment to think that one day they're going to have to stand before God and give an account. And then on top of the moral decay and corruption are the spiritual signs that were in the last days. Last week, Jesus raised the question that when he comes again, will he really find faith here upon the earth? What will Jesus find when he returns? We saw last week that he will find that the elite intelligentsia of our society will believe in the theory of evolution, that Peter reveals that in the last days that scoffers will appear. who would discredit the idea that God can intervene in time and space, but that everything goes on as it has since the beginning. That there are no miracles, no flood, no creation of the universe out of nothing by God, but everything can be accounted for by purely naturalistic arguments. Peter predicted that in the last days such scoffers would be on the world scene. And we're certainly seeing that today. We also saw that one of the signs was the emergence of a one world church, which will be a major player during the tribulation period. Also a growing departure or apostasy from the faith as more and more church leaders deny the basic fundamental doctrines and teachings of the Bible in favor of humanistic views. And lastly, Jesus will find that in the church there will be a downplaying of sound teaching by replacing biblical education with Christian entertainment. People will no longer be interested in sound teaching but will find teachers who will tell them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Doctrine doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter what you believe, just as long as you love one another, get along with one another, and that you feel good when you leave church, when you come out of church. Now, all of this is kind of depressing. It's negative and discouraging. But are there any positive signs that we are in the last days? I thought about certain things and the certain world events that have already occurred that have happened exactly as foretold in the Old Testament, have been witnessed by the world, and are now part of world history that are part of end time signs. For example, events such as the scattering of the Jews to every nation, the rampant anti-Semitism worldwide against God's chosen people. their preservation as an identifiable ethnic people for over 1,900 years, though without a land of their own. And then the return of Israel to the very land that God had originally given her 3,500 years earlier, and God's protection upon that tiny nation in spite of it being surrounded by enemies which outnumber her many times over with troops and planes and missiles and so on, enemies that have sought her annihilation since 1948. These world events that are now history are a fulfillment of Jeremiah 30 and 31. Israel needs to be a nation in the land promised to them for the end time events to unfold. and they are there now. That definitely is a positive sign, a positive sign that we are in the last days. But there's another positive sign is what Jesus told his disciples would happen before the end would come. In Matthew 24, verse 14, Jesus predicts in this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. and then the end will come. Before the end comes, there's going to be global preaching of the gospel, global preaching of the gospel. Ultimately, Ultimately, this global gospel witness will be accomplished, I believe, during the tribulation period through the 144,000 Jewish witnesses that will be sealed, who will spread out over the entire globe so that every man, woman, child, every nation and ethnic group will have an opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ. No one's going to be missed. Everyone is going to have a chance to hear. But you know, today mission organizations have been cooperating together to reach the hidden peoples of the world. And through the use of modern technological means of radio, TV, satellite, internet access, it has been estimated that by the year 2010, every nation, every language group, every tribe will have an opportunity to hear the gospel. every person on the face of the earth. I know I put my messages on podcast online and I found out that people in 32 different countries around the world listen to my messages. Which is amazing. Amazing. You know, through internet. And it's happening. Every person who lives on the face of the earth will have an opportunity or at least the means to hear the gospel of Christ. That's exciting. I think that's a positive sign that we are living in the last days. But the question I want to ask this morning is what comes next? What comes next in God's prophetic program? What should we be looking for? As our world goes down the tubes morally and spiritually, what hope do we have? What hope is there for you and I? What do we have to look forward to in the future? which compels us to get out of bed in the morning and out into the world. Now, from my understanding of scripture, I believe that the next prophetic event in God's timetable will be the return of Jesus Christ for his bride, the church. Paul describes it in Titus chapter 2 when he says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we shall live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to look forward to the blessed hope the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. My friends, we have hope. We have hope and our hope is in the soon return of Jesus Christ for his own. Now there are three main passages of scripture in the New Testament that outlines this event and we're going to look at each of them this morning. For we need, I think, we need to have these truths cemented in our minds so that as we live in a rapidly deteriorating moral and spiritual climate, we might have hope. The first is the words of Jesus in John chapter 14. And I've asked you to turn there in your Bibles, John 14, and I'm gonna begin reading at verse one. John 14, beginning at verse one. Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. "'You believe in God, believe also in me. "'In my father's house are many mansions. "'If it were not so, I would have told you. "'I go to prepare a place for you. "'And if I go and prepare a place for you, "'I will come again to receive you to myself. "'That where I am, there you may be also.'" Now in the context, Jesus has just dropped a bombshell on his disciples. For he says in John chapter 13 verse 33, little children, I shall be with you a little longer, you will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I'm going, you cannot come, so I say to you. Now this statement piqued Peter's interest. For Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me Now where Jesus is going, where Peter could not follow him now, was heaven. Heaven. He was returning to his father's house and he was going there to prepare a place for them and for you and I. He was going to pave the way, he was going to pave the way for you and I to one day spend eternity with him in heaven and that way included the cross. For his death would provide for the forgiveness of our sins and would enable us to be reconciled to God and have a relationship with God. His resurrection would assure our future resurrection and his ascension to heaven where he is now preparing a place for us is the promise of a glorious future for you and I. Glorious future. And Jesus tells his disciples, and he tells you and I who are his followers today, trust me. Trust me. You believe in God, believe also in me. Trust me. Trust me to tell the truth concerning the glories of heaven, but trust me that if I die and ascend to heaven to prepare a place for you, that one day I will come again. I will come again to receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. So we have here the sure promise of the coming of the Lord. Jesus says, I will come again. Now to emphasize the surety of his coming, when Jesus said, I will come again, he does not use a future tense of the Greek verb, but he uses rather the present tense. It's a futuristic present. In Greek, a future tense always expressed a degree of uncertainty, just like you and I. We cannot be 100% certain about what's going to happen today or tomorrow or the next day. We don't know. So any time a word was expressed in the future tense, there was always a degree of uncertainty. But the present tense in the Greek expresses surety, expresses certainty. It's like the difference between I will come and I am coming. I am coming. When someone says, I will come, they may or may not show up. But when the same person says emphatically, I am coming, you can count on it. He's going to be there. You can take it to the bank. And Jesus says to you and I, I am coming. I am coming. You can count on it. Trust me. I'll be there. Now Jesus promised to his disciples were reinforced by the angelic messenger at Christ's ascension. While the disciples were standing there looking intently up the heaven of the skies, he was ascending two men dressed in white robes stood beside them and said, men of Galilee, Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. Jesus is going to return. He's going to return in the same way that you saw him go. That is, it's going to be a visible bodily return, not a return in a spiritual sense. but a literal bodily return. And so the disciples caught right from the start of the church, right from the beginning, they caught that Jesus is coming again, that Jesus will be returning for his own. But now years have passed. Years have passed and some of the believers in that early church died. Jesus has not yet returned like everyone thought that he would. What would happen? What's going to happen to those believers who die before the return of Jesus? Would they be lost? Well, some false teachers were sowing doubt in the heart of the believers, and so Paul writes his letter to the church at Thessalonica. for among many reasons to relieve the fears and comfort the people about those who had died before the return of the Lord. He describes what will happen when Jesus comes again. So you have your Bibles turned over in 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians chapter four, this is the second passage. 1 Thessalonians chapter four, and I'd like to begin reading at verse 13. Paul writes, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. "'For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, "'with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, "'and the dead in Christ will rise first. "'Then we, who are alive and remain, "'shall be caught up together with them in the clouds "'to meet the Lord in the air, "'and thus we shall always be with the Lord. "'Therefore comfort one another with these words.'" Now apparently, while Paul was there at Thessalonica, he had taught the believers about the rapture of the church as it relates to the living, but not to the dead. And so there was a concern that those who had fallen asleep, that is, had died, would somehow miss out on the benefits of the rapture. Now just by a side note here, it's interesting that the term sleep is used here to describe death. And by the way, in the scriptures, sleep is only used of believers, never of unbelievers. Now to describe death. Thus the Bible views the death of a believer as a temporary suspension. It's a temporary suspension of physical activity until the believer awakens at the rapture. And just as physical sleep is a temporary suspension of physical activity. I guess I don't work in my sleep. I used to walk in my sleep, but I talked in my sleep, but most of the time I just sleep sleep, you know, and not do anything. It's just the same thing. And just as physical sleep is a temporary suspension of physical activity, but it's not necessarily mental activity. So is the death of a believer. The temporary suspension or rest, it's a rest from physical activity and work, but it's not a cessation of spirit, soul activity. For when a believer dies, we believe that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's what the Bible teaches. That is, the immaterial part of us, the real you, the conscious you, goes immediately into the presence of the Lord while the body rests in the grave. Now, our hope is that God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. That is, dead believers are going to benefit from the rapture of the church. I don't know about you, but You know, I think about death as being sleep, that kind of brings comfort to me. I enjoy going to sleep, you know, at nighttime. I enjoy laying down and sleeping, you know, and so it's not scary at all for me, you know, and I'm thinking about this, thinking of death as sleep. I'm looking forward to my rest, you know, but until God wants me there, you know. Anyways, now in this passage, In front of us, Paul lays out the sequence of the rapture events in seven stages. To show why this is true, first of all, he says that the Lord himself will descend from heaven. He will leave heaven's heaven. the abode of God. He's seated right now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and one day he is going to lead the heaven of heavens and descend into the atmospheric heavens, into this sky above us. And he will come, he will descend with a shout, with a shout. The Greek word used here is that of a command, of a military leader comes out of his tent and issues a command. And one day our commander-in-chief will come out of his heavenly tent to issue the command for the resurrection of dead believers and the translation of living ones. For that to happen, he's going to come with a shout. He's going to issue the command with the voice of the archangel. The archangel is Michael. Michael is the archangel he will accompany Jesus and he's going to repeat the command set in motion and set in motion God's plan and it will happen it will be set in motion with the trumpet of God Trumpets were used in those days to summon the armies together to come. And so it's at this moment that trumpets going to be used to summon or trigger the plan to get it in this motion. At this point, the dead in Christ will rise first. They're going to rise first. That is, this is the reason why dead believers are not going to miss out on the benefits of the rapture because they're going to be raised to life. Now this resurrection is only for those who are dead in Christ. That is, those who were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, the church. It's not for the Old Testament saints who will be raised at the end of the tribulation before the establishment of the kingdom. There'll be a resurrection there. This is a separate resurrection for those who have died believing in Jesus. They will be raised to life. And then he says, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. This is the translation of living saints. Every believer without exception will be removed from the earth and will be united with the Lord in the air. We're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. That word caught up in the Latin text is the word raptura. That's why we got the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church we're going to be caught up together to beat the Lord in the air and it says we're going to thus always be with the Lord. See the sure promise of John 14 verse 3 will be fulfilled. We will be forever with the Lord whether he is in heaven or here back on earth again. We are going to be accompanying Jesus. We're going to be with him. Now it's important to note that this meeting is going to take place in the air. We're going to be called up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. For there is another prediction in the Old Testament that speaks of Christ coming, but not in the air, but coming to earth, his feet actually standing on the earth. Zechariah 14 verse 3 says, states, then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faced Jerusalem to the east, and the Mount of Olives will split in two from east to west, making a large valley. Half of the mountain shall be moved towards the north and half of it towards the south. So here he's coming back to stand upon the Mount of Olives, standing here upon the earth. In 1 Thessalonians, he's in the air. Two separate phases of his second coming. The rapture of the church is described in the New Testament as being a mystery. A mystery is, and every time that word mystery is used in the New Testament, there's always an explanation of it, which is something that is concealed in the Old Testament, but revealed in the New. In other words, it's not, they didn't see that back in the Old Testament, the two phase coming of Christ. second coming. They didn't see the two-phase coming of Christ, the first coming as well, because they got mixed up as far as thinking that he was going to set up his kingdom at that time. And so the second coming. So that which, while we study the more than 300 Bible references to the second coming of Christ, it becomes clear that there are two phases of his return. because there are too many conflicting events connected with the return to kind of merge them into a single coming. Now let's just stop for a moment and compare these two phases of his second coming. Paul distinguishes these two phases in Titus chapter 2 verse 13, where he says we're looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. The blessed hope is the rapture of the church, and his glorious appearing is his second coming, or the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now let's look at this. At the rapture, at the rapture, Jesus Christ comes in the air for his own. At his second coming or revelation, he's going to come back to earth with his own. At the rapture, all believers are caught up or raptured, whereas at the revelation, no one is raptured. At the rapture, the church is taken to heaven. At the revelation of Christ, the church returns with Christ to set up his kingdom here on the earth. The rapture is imminent, that is, it can happen at any moment, whereas the revelation of Christ follows a definite period of time and events. There are no signs as to when the rapture will take place, but there are plenty of signs for his second coming. The rapture is for believers only, whereas the revelation of second coming affects all humanity. The rapture will be a time of joy, whereas the revelation of Christ when he comes a second time, it's going to be a time of mourning and sorrow here upon the earth. The rapture will occur before the day of wrath, whereas the revelation concludes the day of wrath. At the rapture, believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ for rewards, whereas at the revelation of Christ's second coming, unbelieving humanity will stand before the great white throne judgment to receive eternal punishment for their sins. At the rapture, only his own will see him, whereas at the second coming, every eye will see him. After the rapture, the tribulation begins, whereas after his revelation or second coming, the millennial kingdom begins. Two comings. Now Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 has in mind the rapture of the church. when we're caught up, not the return of Jesus Christ at the end of the tribulation to rescue Israel and establish his kingdom, but his return to snatch us out of this world, his church. And 1 Thessalonians 4 details the sequence of events that will surround the rapture of the church. Now there's one more passage of scripture that explains, I believe, the change that's gonna take place in each of us when Jesus Christ returns. Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and I like to begin reading at verse 50. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 50. It says, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. The dead are going to be raised with imperishable bodies. And we who are alive are going to be changed. Our bodies are going to be fitted for heaven, for making the trip from here to there without a space suit or oxygen. We're going to have a body that's going to be able to go. This will happen in a moment. Literally, the Greek word there is atom. In an atom of time. It will be that quick. it will be in the twinkling of an eye. Not the blinking of an eye, but rather the twinkling or that sudden flash of recognition. That sudden flash of recognition when we recognize Jesus and we're going to be instantly changed. John writes about that flash of instant recognition. 1 John 3 verse 2 he says, Now we are the children of God and has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Paul reminds the believers that Philippi, he says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. This transformational change is going to take place in you and I at the rapture of the church. We're going to see Jesus and in that instant we're going to be changed. The corruptible body is going to put on incorruption. The mortal body is going to put on immortality. And we are going to be fitted for heaven. Make that trip. Going to be instantly changed. Now the question is, when will this take place? When is Jesus returning? Well, let me just say to you, no one knows the exact time or date of his coming. I know that there have been people that have been set dates. But you know Jesus himself is evasive when asked directly by his disciples. He says in Matthew 24 verse 36, but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Only the Father knows the day or the hour that Jesus will return. And Jesus goes on to say in verse 44, therefore you'll also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. No one knows the day of Christ's return. That's why I refuse to set a date. I know that there have been some that have set dates. I know Howard Camping set a date. People sold their businesses, sold their homes, moved to the mountains waiting for him to come. Jesus didn't come and they lost everything as a result. you know, from my understanding of the signs that point to point to the revelation of Christ, that is to the glorious appearing or his second coming. And the fact that so many, there's so many of them coming together in the world scene as if the stage is being set for the return of Jesus. I firmly believe that he could return in our lifetime and even this year and even this day, but I'm not going to set a time. I'm not going to set a time. I don't know. The angels don't know, Jesus doesn't know, only the Father knows. He certainly hasn't revealed it to me, you know, when he's coming back. But I do believe we can set a time in relation to the other prophetic events surrounding the end of the age. Now, there are four major views among those who believe in a premillennial return of Christ. That is, Christ is gonna come back before he establishes his kingdom here upon the earth. as to when the rapture and the revelation will take place. All premillennialists believe that Christ will return prior to the beginning of his kingdom. All premillennialists believe in a literal tribulation period, seven years in duration. And all premillennialists believe that Christ will return at the end of the tribulation to establish his kingdom. That is the glorious appearance of Christ or the revelation of Christ would take place at the end of the tribulation. However, they differ as to when the rapture of the church will occur. Those who hold to the pre-tribulation view believe that Jesus Christ is going to return again for the church prior, prior to the beginning of the seven years of tribulation, and that the church, the body of Christ, his bride, will therefore miss the suffering that's predicted for those on the earth and will be safe with the Lord in heaven. There are those who hold to amid tribulation, period, mid-tribulation view, which places the rapture of the church in the middle of the seven years of tribulation. Since the last three and a half years is known as the Great Tribulation, and since the church is never promised to be delivered from tribulation, therefore the church will go through the first part of the tribulation period when the church earth is relatively peaceful. But when the Antichrist breaks his promise with Israel in the middle of the tribulation, and all hell breaks loose down here on earth, at that point Christ is going to return for his bride, the church. Then there is a variation of this mid-tribulation view. It's the pre-wrath view, which is taught by Dr. Marvin Rosenthal, who had been the director of Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. And Dr. Rosenthal believes that there is three divisions of the Tribulation period. The first division occupies 3 and 1⁄2 years, and it's a time of relative peace. And in the middle of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist breaks his promise with Israel, Marvin believes that we enter that second phase called the Great Tribulation. And that sometime near the end of the Great Tribulation, that last 3 and 1⁄2 year period, He sees a third division. He calls it the day of the Lord, as described in Revelation 6. And the great multitude around the throne of God in Revelation 7, according to the pre-wrath view, is the raptured church, the rapture which took place right before the second coming of Christ, or very close to the end of the tribulation. And when God pours out his wrath upon the world, and thus it's pre-wrath rapture. And then there's one other view, which is the post-tribulation view, which believes that Jesus Christ will come back at the very end of the tribulation, that the church is gonna be caught up at that time to meet the Lord in the air, and then will immediately return with him to establish his kingdom here on the earth. And so the church is gonna go through the tribulation period. like Noah who was saved from the flood by the ark. So the church is going to somehow be supernaturally sheltered from the effects of this time of trouble. So these are four views held by the time when Christ will return. Proponents of these four views all claim to have scriptural support for what they believe. But which view more closely fits the biblical data? Which view is correct? Will Jesus come for his own in the middle, right before the end, or at the very end of the tribulation period for his church? We're going to have to return in two weeks, because that's when I'm going to talk about what I believe, when Jesus is going to come back, and seek God's answer from God's word. But you know, there's one thing they all agree on. There's one thing they all agree on. In fact, there's one thing that dispensationalists agree on, and even those that hold to the covenant view of theology that believe in an all-millennial don't even believe in a millennial kingdom. But they are also all, we're all looking for the coming of Christ. Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again. That's our blessed hope. that we as believers, that one day the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain are gonna be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. We comfort one another with these words. But you know, are these words of comfort for you this morning? They will only if you're ready for the coming of the Lord. They're only a comfort if we're ready. Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Can you point to a time on your spiritual journey where you've humbled yourself before God, admitted that you were a sinner, unable to save yourself, and that you by faith reach out and embraced Jesus Christ for your salvation? If not, then you're not ready. You're not ready for the return of Jesus, and I would strongly encourage you to accept Him. Today is your Savior. You know, the Bible always speaks of salvation in the present tense. It says today is the day of salvation. In other words, that's something we shouldn't put off for tomorrow, because frankly, none of us have a guarantee of tomorrow. We could all pass away today, or Christ could return today and take us to those who know him so don't put off for tomorrow for jesus may come today brothers and sisters in christ are we ready for the return of christ you know paul and titus 2 tells us that we should live how we should live in a moral and spiritually decaying society says for the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are to live as we're standing against a moral and spiritual current of our society, the undertoes that are trying to pull us away from our devotion in Christ. We are to say no to the ungodliness and the worldly passions, and we are to seek to live a self-controlled, upright, godly life as we wait for the blessed hope, the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus made a sure promise to you and I. He said, I am coming. I am coming. He's coming again. But are we ready for his coming? Are we anticipating his return? Three times in Revelation chapter 22, Jesus says, surely I come quickly. Surely I come quickly. I'm coming quickly. I'm coming soon. I'm coming at any moment. I'm coming. I'm coming. And can we say with the Apostle John, even so come, Lord Jesus.